The Groundtruth from a combat veteran, backed up by independent research and historical study. Information beneficial to the Troops. And a touch of objective politics, as it relates to the subjects at hand.

This site is unabashedly Pro-American and Pro-Military however none of the views expressed here are to be considered as endorsed, proposed, or supported by the Department of Defense or any other Agency, government, public, or private. http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/

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Shadow of the Sword

SSgt Workman is featured in the Hall of Heroes and a book review on this from Marine Till Death that read it as it was written: http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/home/2008/12/shadow-of-the-sword-by-jeremiah-workman-w-john-bruning.html

http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/home/2008/12/ssgt-jeremiah-workman-navy-cross-usmc-iraq-marion-oh.html and links to prior articles.

Iraq's ‘Eye in the Sky’ Safeguards Voters

BAGHDAD — Flying high above Baghdad, the Iraqi Air Force demonstrated its capability to view polling stations and other potential critical-incident locations in preparation for the upcoming Provincial Elections.

This “eye in the sky” is a sensor system, similar to that of a U.S. Predator UAV, down-linked for display into the Iraqi Prime Minister’s National Operations Center.

Elections Bringing Change to Iraq

A campaign poster for Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki hangs from a building in Baghdad's Sadr City district, Jan. 29, 2009. The nation is holding its first free provincial elections entirely run by Iraqis, Jan 31. Photo by Sgt. Jerry Saslav, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.

SADR CITY — Something new is coming to Iraq. The signs are in the air, plastered on walls, buildings, light posts lining the road and even strung between buildings.

Provincial elections are being held today, and most public structures have, in some way shape or form, campaign posters attached to them.

There have been elections in Iraq since Saddam Hussein’s fall from power, but this is the first totally Iraqi-run election.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2009 – Sesame
Workshop will air a PBS special April 1 aimed at helping military
families cope with changes.

Actor/singer Queen Latifah and singer
John Mayer will join Elmo to present, “Coming Home: Military Families
Cope with Change.” The special carries a message for children whose
parents suffered a physical or psychological wound in combat.

Incident being investigated in Konar Province

KABUL,
Afghanistan - At least one local national was injured today in the
Watapor Valley, Dara Noor District of the Konar Province at
approximately 12:30 p.m. when International Security Assistance Forces
fired on insurgents.

In Iraq that is, but you would hardly even know it is taking place from all the news coverage it is NOT getting!

An Iraqi National Police officer displays his ink-stained finger after leaving a polling station in the New Baghdad district of eastern Baghdad, Jan. 28, 2009. The Iraqi government held a special election to allow Iraqi Security Forces to vote in the provincial elections, scheduled for Jan. 31. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Alex Licea

A
ski instructor helps Command Sgt. Maj. James Esters, U.S. Army Garrison
Ansbach, Germany, suit up for an Alpine ski tour Jan. 12 in Garmisch
during a test run for Installation Management Command-Europe's Warrior
Adventure Quest program. The one-day event took about 30 Soldiers from
the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade and a handful of garrison staff
members to Garmisch for a day of Alpine skiing and snowshoeing.By: Jim Hughes.

HEIDELBERG, Germany - The first of approximately 8,000 Soldiers began
cycling through Installation Management Command-Europe's
high-adventure, adrenaline-pumping Warrior Adventure Quest recreation
program earlier this month.

All of the U.S. Army Europe troops recently returned from deployments
with the 2nd Striker Cavalry Regiment, the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade
and the 1st Armored Division.

It was bound to happen and according to allegations it happened sometime around 1422. It seems our esteemed predecessors were charged with an unlawful act. In fact, the investigators were looking for a murder site. It was claimed that they had shot a man in cold blood, while he lay on the ground beside his compliantly stopped vehicle.

This came as a shock to me, as it does to all the witnesses interviewed on 21st Century news crews, as friends and neighbors of violent criminals. We had lived and worked with these fine men for several weeks before they returned to the present century. How could I possibly have slept so peacefully under the Taliban 107mm greeting cards, only yards from these cold blooded killers?

They were the consumate professionals, kind and generous men that consistently proclaimed the Afghan right to an AK-47 and a bag of hash. Still, we had to live with this new reality, that according to JAG, our lives may have been spared in the night, simply due to their fatique from a day of wanton murder.

It was ordered, we would set aside all we knew of their professionality, their generosity, and their fairness. We would receive and we would keep safe a team of investigators intent on proving their

OKINAWA, Japan - He thought it was a prank when he received a message
on his answering machine from the White House. Later that month Bill
Krissoff, a 60-year-old orthopedic surgeon from Truckee, Calif., his
wife Christine and his son, 1st Lt. Austin Krissoff, were in a small
room face-to-face with the president.

In the border towns of the Afghan-Paki border, Tribal influences and Paki markets have as much if not more influence than does Kabul or even the Provincial Capital, but when a report on Kabul politics & Pentagon Preferences is written in London and published in Peshawar, Pakistan, a known hotbed of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other islamists, how much is truth and how much is misperception or misdirection?

Greater development of infrastructure and hence the interaction peaceably of the various ethnicities will strengthen the National Identity and hence the national government. As Afghans look toward their own markets and government for employment, for goods & services, the lawless tribal areas of Pashtun Pakistan will exert less influence and potentially become influenced by a future Afghan government. But there exist serious challenges, rooted deeply in the cultural fabric of the Nation and its tribes.

"At the opening session of the Afghan parliament, he criticised the US-led coalition for its conduct of the war, disregard for Afghan casualties of air strikes, its bypassing of the government, links to warlords and tolerance of drug traffickers. All this is strange behaviour for a man seen by many Afghans as a puppet of the US, The Independent reported." The Frontier Post, Peshawar, Karzai fighting for political life,26 Jan 2009

This "strange behavior" is the sign of an Afghan politician astute enough to understand the importance of demonstrating the opposite of the allegations. As an American Veteran of the Afghan Conflict, I understand the truth, that US Forces and Coalition Forces take great care and great risk to avoid placing civilians in harm's way. I also understand the frustration of fighting an atrocious enemy that attempts to place the civilian population in harm's way, that blends in with them, that fires from amongst them, that

Iraqi, U.S. Soldiers Deliver Donated School Supplies, Dolls from Honolulu

Freedom Journal Iraq, Jan. 30 (Women's Conference)

Iraqi Freedom Minute, Jan. 30 (Engineering Improvements)

Iraqi military ethics center hosts election conference

Iraqi Police, National Police place their votes in Istaqlal

Tribal leaders hosted by Sustainers at Ziggurat of Ur

Iraqi Army, Coalition Forces Support Basra Schools

551st Trains Iraqi Army on Monitor

Thousands of Iraqi Detainees Cast Votes

CAMP VICTORY — Approximately 3,000 detainees in Coalition custody voted Jan. 28 at eight polling stations in U.S. Theater Internment Facilities (TIF). Multi-National Force-Iraq partnered with the Government of Iraq, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), and other agencies to provide credible and legitimate special needs voting at Camp Cropper and Camp Bucca.

RC West delivers school supplies to a Herat children’s school

KABUL,
Afghanistan - An Italian team from Regional Command-West delivered
supplies and a generous donation to a children’s school in downtown
Herat , January 27.

“Education is very important for Afghanistan because after 25 years of war most of our people are illiterate,” stated Mahmud Dad Mohammad an English teacher at the school who is only 18-years old himself. “I
think if the next generations of children grow up with an education I
am sure that in the future Afghanistan won’t have the problems it has
had in the past. As a country, education plays the biggest role in
everything; education is the key to making Afghanistan better in the
future. I also want to thank the Italian forces who have helped us
today.”

The Civil Military Cooperation team delivered
the supplies donated by the Italian Rotary Club located in Udine, Italy
to the school in order to help the children advance their education.
The school teaches 500 students ranging from 6 to 17 year-olds and
accepts both male and female students.

“I enjoy going to school here because I love to learn and I want to become a teacher or doctor in the future,” said Afsina Qatali, a 12-year old, sixth grade student at the school. “Afghanistan needs smart women for our future.”

The
school’s director who is also an interpreter with Regional
Command-West, asked for the assistance from the Italian troops. Five
hundred notebooks, pencils, pens and paper were delivered to the
students at the school. The children awaited the arrival of the troops
and greeted them with a welcoming song and a tour of the school’s
facilities.

“In my view, this is really the reason for our presence here,” stated Italian Army Lieutenant Colonel Paolo, Battle Group commander for RC-West. “Apart
from the message that we are here to help the local authorities, we are
helping the local community in a practical way.”

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va.-Sgt. Keith Buckmon, a wounded warrior
who has been in a wheelchair since hit by shrapnel from an improvised
explosive device in Iraq, clears his shotgun on Saturday, January 24
before exiting the new wounded warrior hunting blind recently finished
with the help of Ducks Unlimited and located aboard Marine Corps Base
Quantico., Cpl. Natasha Combs, 1/24/2009 1:00 PM

1/29/2009 - FORT LEE, Va. (AFNS) -- For
military parents who have children about to enter college or already
attending, the opportunity to apply for a $1,500 scholarship through
the Defense Commissary Agency's Scholarships for Military Children
Program is ending Feb. 18.

An F-15E Strike Eagle soars over the mountains and high desert of
Afghanistan providing close-air support to troops on the ground engaged
in rooting out insurgent sanctuaries and support networks. The Strike
Eagle is a dual-role fighter designed to perform air-to-air and
air-to-ground missions. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Lance Cheung)

In Afghanistan, Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles destroyed several enemy
fighting positions in the Nangalam region using guided bomb unit-31s
and -38s. The targets included anti-Afghan heavy machine gun and other
emplacements that were firing on coalition ground forces.

No one likes an Army Range. It is amazing at how effectively the Army can make fun things a belabored task. But in 1423, the people that make ranges a drag are unlikely to venture far enough away from their bunkers to interfere with the fun one can have shooting guns.

And in 1423, there is another benefit: No brass detail. Afghanis are the pre-eminent recyclers and brass are one of their favorite things to recycle. They also like water bottles but the thing with brass is a great benefit to having fun on the range. It can also be a problem.

Any time a weapon is fired by the good guys, an Afghan kid hears and heeds the call to make a dime. That's all good and well, but the chance that only a single kid can hear the retort of 5.56 is pretty remote and if two kids show up, that's competition for the spoils of war. If there's competition, then there's a race for each piece, no matter how hot. And that's when things can go wrong.

Those kids will literally fight and dive to catch the brass even as it leaves the breech. And they seem

In the border towns of the Afghan-Paki border, Tribal influences and Paki markets have as much if not more influence than does Kabul or even the Provincial Capital, but when a report on Kabul politics & Pentagon Preferences is written in London and published in Peshawar, Pakistan, a known hotbed of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other islamists, how much is truth and how much is misperception or misdirection?

LONDON (NNI): Hamid Karzai is fighting for his political life. He has often been written off as "the mayor of Kabul", but he does not intend to go quietly just because the Pentagon has increasingly seen him as an obstacle to its plans for a "surge" or increase in US troop strength by 20,000 or 30,000 to try to turn the corner in the Afghan war. The Frontier Post, Peshawar, Karzai fighting for political life,26 Jan 2009

Indeed, President Karzai has been called the "Mayor of Kabul," a term which underscores the challenges he has and continues to face in attempting to run a Nation that has a long history of independence from Nation and fierce tribalism. Few ever have given him much chance of unifying the Nation, particularly in that within his own government he is competing with strong personalities with no desire to cede their Provincial Power in their desires for National Power.

His attempts to create a unified Nation out of diverse tribal rivalries is noted by brilliant political moves that were prophesized for defeat as well as counter-corruption policies applauded internationally that failed to produce the expected results.

Early challenges included how to overcome the divisive yet powerful Warlord of the West, Ishmail Khan. Khan is an astute politician as well as popular figure from the Iranian border. Like many Provincial

In Tarnak Wa Jaldak District, approximately 90 km northeast of Kandahar City, Coalition Forces targeted a known Taliban leader and explosives expert. Upon receiving small-arms fire, Coalition Forces returned fire and killed all four armed militants who were maneuvering against them.

During the operation, three women and eight children were protected.

A search of the compound revealed multiple AK-47s and other weapons. Coalition Forces removed the weapons and destroyed them at a safe distance from the compound to prevent future use.

Afghan child injured in Kapisa

KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan child was wounded Jan. 24 in Kapisa, North-East of Kabul, when a

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2009 – In his first visit to the Pentagon as commander in chief, President Barack Obama today thanked U.S. troops and pledged to provide the resources they need to accomplish their missions.

Obama spoke to reporters here after meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to discuss military readiness, “difficult decisions” on Iraq and Afghanistan and other national security threats and objectives.

“I want to first of all thank all of the men and women in uniform who are represented here. They are the best that this country has to offer,” Obama said after he and Vice President Joe Biden shook hands with a row of troops from all service branches who lined an E-ring Pentagon hallway.

“All of you who are serving in the U.S. armed forces are going to have my full support, and one of my duties as president is going to be to make sure that you have what you need to accomplish your missions,” he said. [[WOTN: We will have to hold him to this.]]

Obama said the first point he addressed with the Joint Chiefs -- the senior-ranking officers of each

WASHINGTON (Jan. 16, 2009) - A new patrol in the U.S. Central Command is working to make it unprofitable to be a pirate, the commander of U.S. Navy Central Command and 5th Fleet said Jan. 15.

Acts of piracy have "spiked" off the coast of Somalia with merchant vessels and crews being held for millions in ransom by pirates using AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and ladders to take "low and slow" ships traversing one of the world's busiest sea lanes.

The pirates come from a clan based on the northern coast of Somalia, Navy Vice Adm. William E.

Marines patrol for insurgents in Afghanistan's Helmand province last month. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said the military in Afghanistan will focus on concrete, short-term goals.

WASHINGTON (Jan. 23, 2009) – As part of the Obama administration’s assessment of the strategy being employed in Afghanistan, the U.S. military will focus its efforts on achieving shorter-term goals there, the Defense Department’s top official said Thursday.

“One of the points where I suspect both administrations come to the same conclusion, is that the goals we did have for Afghanistan are too broad and too far into the future,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told reporters at a Pentagon press conference.

President Barack Obama met with Gates and other National Security Council members at the White House on Jan. 21.

The United States needs to set “more concrete goals” for Afghanistan that “can be achieved

The Computer Technology Industry Association
(CompTIA) is an association of all the major computer manufacturers, software
developers and companies that install and maintain computer systems for large
and small companies all over the country.

CompTIA has an Educational Foundation that runs a
program called "Creating Futures." The Creating Futures program was developed
to provide veterans with the opportunity to obtain employable skills to achieve
rewarding careers.

ADHAMIYAH — As a two-time Olympian shouted instructions from the side, two boxers sparred for the crowd of onlookers to celebrate the reopening of the Adhamiyah Sports Complex in northeast Baghdad, Jan. 27.

Following a $200,000 facelift that was funded through commander’s emergency relief program funds, the Adhamiyah Sports Complex now boasts a remodeled boxing gym, an indoor basketball

Known
as form 10-0137, this advanced directive form is an official document where you
can write down your preferences about your medical care. If some day you become
unable to make health care decisions for yourself, this advance directive can
help guide the people who will make decisions for you.

It wasn't the first time and it wasn't the last, but the news had come in. The Stars & Stripes was never newer than a month old but we could get the local Taliban news within days or hours. It should have been a day of mourning for us, but after the first few times, the reports just made us laugh.

We had just found out the news, we had been defeated in a glorious battle. The last time the "first thing smokin' " had come in, it was to load up our collective bodies, following the neighborly greetings of 107mm rockets and the onslaught of Taliban hordes. It was important news for us, even if an old storyline written creatively in a new manner.

Some people wonder what their epitaph will say. Some wonder how their obitiuary will be written. The several iterations of ours weren't satisfactory. It was read to us on a regular basis with flowery words and imaginary characters and yet I still sat there breathing dusty air, without a hot shower.

How many times can one man die? Well, if we were to believe the glorious battles of The Taliban

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – With tax season fast approaching, the 332nd
Air Expeditionary Wing and the 3d Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)
are working together to provide free tax filing and assistance at the
Joint Base Balad Tax Center.

CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti — Service members from Combined Joint Task
Force – Horn of Africa participated in a three-day rescue operation 260
miles off coast of Madagascar in an effort to save three Americans from
a capsized sailboat.

In an article from the Professional Journal of the U.S. Army
Chaplaincy, Dr. John W. Brinsfield wrote, “Since 1775, commanders have
looked to their chaplains as ethical leaders to reinforce Soldiers’
spiritual strength, commitment, cohesion, morale, and moral discipline.
The roles chaplains assumed were legion [numerous]: as pastors,
preachers, professors, advisors to the commander, participants with
their Soldiers in combat, defense counsels, senior leaders,
administrators and stewards of resources, clinical team ethicists in
hospitals, and since 1973, as ethics instructors in Army service
schools.”

The roles of the U.S. Army chaplains listed above could be all true and
often portrayed as caregivers and providers of Soldiers’ spiritual
needs. Though it is normal for chaplains to be a caregiver of others,
the thought of who cares for their needs when they have problems is
often neglected or unseen.

A B-1B Lancer receives fuel over Afghanistan from a KC-10 Extender.
B-1Bs can rapidly deliver massive quantities of precision and
non-precision weapons against any adversary. The B-1B is assigned to
the 34th Expeditionary Squadron and the KC-10 is assigned to the 908th
Expeditionary Aerial Refueling Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff
Sgt. Aaron Allmon)

In Afghanistan, an Air Force B-1B Lancer dropped several guided bombs
on high ground overlooking a coalition patrol's position, denying
anti-Afghan forces the ability to occupy it and emplace mortars. Enemy
forces had engaged the patrol using small arms and indirect fire.

Hope4heroes.org is proud to announce to host The First Annual Helping
Heroes summit from 18-20 June, 2009 at the Riverwalk Plaza hotel in San Antonio,
TX. This esteemed event will be the first of its kind bringing in helping
agencies and veteran service organizations from across the country. This should
be the largest event of its kind in 2009. Please contact us to attend or for
media related questions.

Afghanistan

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Delta Bravo Sierra

Volume 1

For a few bucks more you can get a signed copy from the author himself! http://www.deltabravosierra.us/2011/02/10/a-word-about-the-new-book/comment-page-1/#comment-3383
Get your copy of this legendary cartoon now (or wait a few days for the signed copy!)

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Profound Classics

Ace Of Spades: Why Language MattersIn this article, Ace of Spades demonstrates how the writing style of "journalists" and other writers is purposely used to influence the electorate. He explains this far better than I have been able to do, but this is the foundation of why I could no longer be silent.